This
game shows effects of racism, and classism on an institutional
level. The purpose of this game is to demonstrate how the power
group (usually consisting of white, male, Protestant individuals)
has control over the rest of society, and all of their decision
making processes. After choosing the people in power, the game
requires the rest of the class to split up into groups of oppressed
people (African-American, Native American, Homeless, Person with
Disability, gays and lesbians, etc.). Each group should not have
more than 3 or 4 people in the group.

Each
group is given cards stating the opportunity that they would
like to be granted, and the object is for the oppressed groups
to make sound arguments as to why they should receive the stated
opportunity. The oppressed groups will be given a certain amount
of time to make their arguments--usually about five minutes works
well. After they make their argument, the power group needs to
make a decision. This decision is final. Encourage the power
group to be as oppressing as they see fit to create the realistic
scenario. The next oppressed group is then given the chance to
debate their important issue.

Here
are some suggestions for issues to use:

African
Americans: Equal
education opportunities

Homeless:
Vocational
Programs

Gays
and Lesbians: Health
care for partners

Women:
Equal
pay for equal work

People
in the oppressed group are allowed to give up their time to another
oppressed group if they feel as though the other group's issue
is more important. In most cases this does not happen because
oppressed groups feel that all of their issues are important.
This is what keeps oppressed groups from coming together.

The
Power Group: It is important that the members of the power group
understand that they rule this country' and that they have the
power to do anything that they want to. They have to remember
that they have to look out for the best interest of the elite.
They have as much time as they want to speak and can reject an
issue for whatever reason they choose. They don't even have to
give a reason.

Separate
the class into two equal sections. Give each group one portion
of the chalk/wipe board. Everyone should have the opportunity
to draw if they want to. Select a spokesperson for the group.

Each
group is going to design a town. They each have a certain amount
of money that they can spend on the creation of their town. They
must purchase anything (trees, roads, buildings, etc) that they
draw on the boardl!! Tell the spokesperson for the two groups
how much money they have to spend. Group A has $1,000,000and
Group B has $10,000.

Below
is a breakdown of how much things will cost for each of the groups,
if the item is not listed, you can determine the price, but make
sure it stays in line with the prices for each group.

Trees

Houses

School

Roads

Group
A: $20/each

Group
B: $150/each

Group
A: $500/each

Group
B: $900/each

Group
A: $1000/each

Group
B: $3000/each

Group
A: $600/each

Group
B: $900/each

You
should be keeping track of how much money each group has spent.
Let the groups get creative!!

After
about 20 minutes, if the students haven't figured it out, have
all the students sit down and compare and reflect on the differences
of the pictures. Power is established.

Students
are asked to be members of a hospital administration board. They
should split up into a couple of different groups, this way more
discussion and interaction will occur.

The
situation is as follows: As members of the hospital board, the
students must decide which five out of the nine people will,
through the use of a kidney dialysis machine, be able to live.
The hospital can only obtain five machines -- there are none
available anywhere else -- so four people must die. Case histories
or summaries of each individual should be developed. Variables
such as sex, race, socioeconomic status, age; sexual preference
and class should be used in the case studies in order to make
deciding difficult. There will be dissention as to which the
kidney machines should go to, so watch out for conflicts, stereotypical
remarks, and biases. Students must defend their choices at the
end of the exercise and discussion can be developed from their
various reasons.

At
the end of the discussion, you may want to make a chart of all
group and their decisions. This way, you can see where, the groups
were similar, and where they were different. This will help in
the facilitation of discussion at the end.

Here
are the case histories ... You rnay want to make copies for your
group to have during their discussion.

Case
Histories for Life Support Exercise

Emma
Kinsey: A
black, single, 35 year old woman on welfare. She has five children
to support (their ages ranging from one to seven) and she doesn't
have the money to pay the hospital for treatment.

Morris
Plotmar:
An 82 year old man, who, until coming to this hospital for minor
surgery was extremely healthy. Due to negligence on the part
of the hospital, he is now very ill.

Reggie
Regan: President
Regan's grandson bom four months prematurely with various other
major life threatening health problems. The President will contribute
a large sum of money to the hospital if his grandson is chosen.

Louise
Finch: A
28 year old business executive with no family and lots of money.
She lives alone and doesn't like to socialize.

Billy
Dunbar:
A 14 year old juvenile delinquent who has been jailed for robbery
and assault and yet has been out of trouble for six months. He
is an orphan and belongs to a street gang.

Andrea
Lawrence: A
known supporter for gay rights and the rights of homosexuals
to adopt children. She is 48 years old, divorce with two children
who are in their 20's.

Peter
Clevarez:
A 30 year old hispanic man in the lower middle class with a family
of five to support. Since his illness, due to low funds, his
family has been living with his elderly mother in another state.

Trisha
Barnes:
An 8 year old girl with mental retardation who has a highly supportive
family. She lives at home and is taken care of by her mother.
There are no other children in the family and Trisha has already
had life threatening heart operations. There is no guarantee
that her heart can withstand another operation.

Andrew
James Grayton III: A
58 year old white male who owns his own company, plays a lot
of tennis and is known for shady business deals. A lot of people
depend on him for jobs, since his company employs practically
an entire town. His name has been linked to the mob